About the GABIT staff

The G4 were finding it virtually impossible to be in three places at one time (we did try honest!) and although cloning seemed a good idea (or maybe not depending on your point of view!) a more sensible idea was to get on board a dedicated team of Gabit Staff to take on certain roles.

We needed people who we knew could just get on with the task at hand, were experienced in the areas we needed them to be experienced in and were people who we knew we could depend on. A huge, massive and zany sense of humour is also mandatory (as attendees will attest to when seeing some of the antics the staff get up to) and an ability to come up with fun ideas and put them into practice! This team, or Gabit family as we like to call them, is essential to the planning and execution of our Events.
It's impossible to emphasise enough how fantastic these people are. They're pure gems, our fabulous friends and we couldn't run our Events without them.

Picture from the last mini con

We thought it might be nice to introduce them, give a little bit of their background and what makes them tick - especially since the team has grown even since AT4.

Here in alphabetical order are the GABIT staff!

Nora Allstedt

California USA

Nora has been a Gabit supporter and was our Hall Captain for many years. She is now a member of the Charity Team.

Nora, a teacher and keen musician, lives in California. Her breadth of experience working at Conventions across the pond as well as here with us in London makes her a much valued addition to our staff

Kate Ayrton

Scotland UK

Kate perfectly fits the role which was identified at AT6 of a Gabit At-Event Administrator. Kate will have her nose firmly in paperwork and is responsible for keeping tallies for both the Charity Desk and for Registration during the Event. Kate lives iin Scotland and apart from being the co-parent to two cats, she has thrown herself firmly into Scottish life!

Liesl BlandAlaska, USA

Liesl is the GABIT Attendee Liaison flying in all the way from Alaska! She is also responsible for the fantastic table centres at the Cocktail Party, and has made some beautiful quilts for the Charity auctions. Always coming up with ideas and being able to make them a reality, with a love of all things craft wise, Liesl is invaluable in the Event planning process! At AT10, as at AT9 Liesl heads up the Foyer team of Senior Stewards who provide information to all the attendees during our weekends.

Carl FordLondon, UK

Carl is not only a member of the GABIT family but also a member of the Hague family as he is married to Rebecca. Carl’s calm and congenial approach to people made him a perfect addition to the Guest Services Team where he has been for many years.

Peter HagueLondon, UK

Peter is Julia's husband and is the GABIT webmaster responsible for the design and maintenance of the website. With a deep interest and love of photography and videography, he is an essential member of the Technical Team. Peter provides a very calming influence when things get hairy and puts up with complete domestic chaos when the entire GABIT staff descend on the Hague household (fondly nicknamed the Gabitry) for meetings which usually last for entire weekends – fondly known as Mini-cons!

Becka FordLondon, UK

Rebecca is Julia and Peter's daughter (and Carl’s wife). Rebecca is the Head of Charity for GABIT, having moved on from guest Services.

A keen horse and dog owner, Becka is also a very talented singer and actress and has been in several theatre productions.

Mother to Jessica and Nathan, you will see these two mini members of staff helping out too!

Terri HarkinScotland, UK

Terri is the GABIT medical expert for our AT events and is a member of the GABIT tech team
Also a keen horsewoman, Terri spends a lot of her spare time enthusiastically engaged in Airsoft battles!

Tim JacobsEssex, UK

Tim provides year round technical support for his mother, Kay, during the entire registration process. He is also responsible for setting up and running the GABIT forum. At the Events, you will see Tim heading up that section of the Technical Team which is responsible for the printing of the photographs. He also works in the main hall on the Tech desk during the Hall based activities at AT Events

Nick LuffLondon, UK

Nick is in charge of the Technical desk in the main hall and is our all round technical wizard both in the lead up to, and at the actual event. Nick is also responsible for producing many of the DVDs which are screened during the Event and runs the discos. You may often see him with a furry stuffed ferret but that’s another story…. Nicknamed “Technick”, we couldn’t do without him!

Tracy NorthSurrey, UK

In the run up to an Event Tracy is heavily involved in the design and production of the Event programme and banners and is a whizz kid in Paintshop. Tracy has an enormous sense of humour and loves people. With her boundless energy (she is, after all, fondly known as the GABIT energiser bunny), who better to look after the day-to-day co-ordination of our fantastic stewarding team at our Events

A mother of three grown up children and a grandmother to boot, Tracy spends her working time teaching spin classes at the local gym and her leisure time having fun and seemingly forever plotting the next “get Julia” for the AT Events with her co-conspirators!

Paul Reeves
Berkshire UK

Paul came to his first AT event a few years ago and has never looked back. A staunch friend of Gabit and a dab hand at charity sales, he has certainly found his niche . A massive Swindon football supporter, Paul is a calm, always smiling and very welcome addition to our Charity team.

Jennifer SchefflerScotland, UK

Jenn is Julia's right hand woman on Guest Services. She is usually seen as a red blur rushing around during the weekend. She is also responsible for most of the music videos at the Event and for helping Julia craft the charity DVDs just before the Charity auction.
Jenn is also a lover of all things “crafty”and gets together with Liesl to produce some fantastic table centres for the cocktail parties!